Harry had been thinking. He was sat on an upturned bucket. Questions were swirling around his head. He glanced up at Malfoy, who was sat on a dusty broom service box. Harry decided to ask. This wasn't a question he could ask Hermione about.
``Malfoy. `` Harry waited for Draco to look up from the ground. ``Malfoy. No offence or anything, but why do you like Professor Snape? `` This was a question Harry would never be able to answer himself. Malfoy looked up again and answered
``Why do you like Granger? Why do I like Snape? I expect you like Granger because she does your homework for you and because she's not exactly ugly. Why do I like Snape? I don't. But if he knew that he would tell my father and he thinks highly of him. If he were to find out that I despise the teacher who breathes down my neck and encourages me to tease those with a lower blood status than me, well, then I would probably be sat here waiting for my next howler to explode in the Great Hall where everyone is listening. Does that answer your question Potter? `` Harry nodded. ``Good. Now it's my turn to ask you a question. `` He let these words sink in, probably expecting an argument. When he didn't get one, he continued ``Why does Snape hate you so much? I mean you are a quite hate-able person sometimes, but he hated you the second you first entered the Great Hall. Why? `` This was a question Harry hadn't been expecting, however, he answered it.
``Well, Snape, my mother and my father were all in the same year as each other at Hogwarts. My father and Snape resented each other. My father and his friends teased him and used his spells against him. And Snape and my mother already knew each other before Hogwarts. And I think Snape had a crush on her. So when my parents started going out, he hated my father even more. And Snape sees me as a mini version of my father. I'm not sure if there was more to it or less to it, but that's how I think it was. ``
Harry found it hard imagining this as he explained. He knew what Snape looked like. He knew what his parents looked like. He just didn't know what his parents were like. He didn't know if they were funny or serious. He didn't know if they were spoilsports or daredevils. Worst of all he didn't know why it had been them. Why did they have to be killed? Were they such a threat? Was he? What had stopped Voldemort from succeeding all those months ago?